A Very Camden Thanksgiving
by sophronia
Summary: Five years in the future, the Camdens gather for Thanksgiving. But things are not all as they seem.
1. Arriving

Note: I don't own 7th Heaven or any characters therein. This is entirely a work of fiction and imagination using some characters from the show. This story was inspired by the question: Where will the Camdens be in five years? Rated R for sexual stuff. Lots of shoutouts to the people at TwoP. Hope you like it!

A Very Camden Thanksgiving

Part I

Lucy Camden sat in the front passenger seat of her fiancé Dan's car, frowning. They were parked in the driveway of her parents' large, white-columned house in Glenoak, and she was trying to work up the courage to go in.

"Come on, Luce," Dan said, taking his hands off the steering wheel. "They probably heard the car pull up."

"I know, just give me a minute to get prepared." Lucy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, she found Dan looking at her from the driver's seat, smirking.

"They're just your family, honey. How bad can it be?" He brushed the hair from the side of her face.

Lucy rolled her eyes and made a face to convey her dread of what lay ahead of them. "Believe me, you have no idea. Just remember all that stuff we went over on the way down here."

He sighed good-naturedly. "Yeah, I remember. No drinking, no smoking, no swearing. We don't live together. And I won't even mention the band. I already promised."

He was still touching the side of her face. He traced his hand down her neck and shoulder, then dipped suddenly and cupped her breast.

"Eeek!" Lucy squealed, jumping away from him. "And absolutely none of that!"

He smirked again. "Yeah, yeah. I'm just trying to get it all out of my system before we go in." He reached for her again. "Did I ever tell you that you have great tits, Miss Lucy Camden?"

"Stop, I mean it," she hissed. "They could be spying!" She giggled in spite of her words and shoved Dan's hand away.

"Oh, God," Dan muttered. "This is gonna be a rough night." He opened the car door and reached behind his seat for their overnight bags. Then, as she walked by him on her way to the front door, he put his hand on her arm and turned her to face him, looking her in the eyes. "Seriously, I'll be on my best behavior. You've got nothing to worry about." 

She smiled the way she always did when she looked at him. Who would ever have predicted that she would find someone so wonderful? Reminding herself that only a few years ago she would never have given someone like him a second look, she felt especially grateful. It was truly fate, or the will of God, or something, that had brought them together. 

Typically for him, Dan was completely confident that he could win her family over. "You just watch, they're gonna love me. They'll be kissing my ass by breakfast tomorrow."

"Dan!"

"Yeah, yeah. Kissing my cheek, I mean." He hoisted the bag and went around to close the trunk. "Next stop, the House of Repression!"

*

Upstairs in the attic window, Ruthie watched them, a tight smile on her face. She opened her notebook and scrawled something down, then slammed it closed and carefully concealed it behind the wallboard in the walk-in closet. Fools, she thought. Then she went downstairs to join the rest of the family.


	2. Catching Up

Part II

Approaching the big familiar front door, Lucy couldn't stop herself from feeling as she always did at her parents' house – small and desperate. She took deep breaths to get ahold of herself as Dan clomped up behind her, weighted down by the luggage. Lucy had made sure that they would be the last to arrive, and she'd made plans for the rest of the weekend so they'd have an excuse to leave in the morning. In the years since she finally left home to go to university, she had found that the less time she spent at her parents' house, the better she got along with them.

When they rang the bell, the door was swung open by Kody, Matt and Sarah's oldest, now four years old.

Lucy knelt down to put herself at the boy's eye level. "Hi Kody! Remember me? I'm your Aunt Lucy!"

"No," the child intoned, staring back at her impassively.

"Oh. Well, I'm not surprised, you were just a little tiny baby the last time I saw you." 

The kid just stood there in the doorway, refusing to move, or even smile. Behind her, she heard Dan snort at her obvious lack of rapport with the rude little thing. She began to feel desperate again.

"Where's your mom and dad?" she asked, trying to peer past him into the hallway.

Without moving an inch or even turning his head, Kody shouted, "Mommmmm!"

From the depths of the house, Sarah appeared, holding an infant wrapped in a blanket. "Lucy!" She maneuvered herself behind her son, who still refused to move out of the doorway. "It's so great to see you! Kody, don't just leave them standing here in the doorway. Go and tell your dad that they're here."

Kody thought it over for a minute, then vanished, yelling, "Daaaad! They're here! Can we eat now?"

Sarah grabbed Lucy into a hug with her free arm. "You look great!" she enthused. 

Sarah definitely didn't; she looked like she hadn't slept for few months. Her dress had a large spot of baby formula on one shoulder, and her hair looked like she'd combed it with her fingers. "So do you!" Lucy lied through a huge smile.

"Oh, thanks! I've been feeling so much better ever since Matt gave me this!" Sarah stuck out her hand so that Lucy could admire the ring with three colored stones that rested on her finger. "It's a mother's ring, with the birthstones for Kory, Kady and Kacy! Oh, and that reminds me, you haven't met Kacy yet!" She held out her baby for admiration. 

After cooing at it for a few minutes, Lucy remembered poor Dan, stuck behind her with the luggage. "Sarah, this is my fiancé, Dan," Lucy said belatedly. "Dan, this is my brother Matt's wife Sarah."

"Ah, the famous Dan! Nice to finally meet you! So, have you found a better job than cashiering at Tower Records yet?" Sarah finally let them into the house, gabbing away as she closed the door behind them.

And there they were: the whole Camden family, sprawled around the living room. Her mother and father jumped to their feet and ran over to hug her tightly, and for a moment Lucy felt genuinely happy to be home. Drawing out of the hug, Eric and Annie stood a few feet from their daughter, smiling at her with tears in their eyes.

"Oh, Eric, look at her!" Annie said. "She's all grown up! And she's finally found someone to marry her!"

Annie had gotten a new perm that made her hair look like a cocker spaniel attached to her head. Lucy was relieved to see that her father looked much the same, however.

She introduced her parents to Dan, and they both shook his hand. Dan was right, he did make a good impression on parents – she was pleased to see that her mom and dad liked his All-American good looks and firm handshake.

Looking around the room, she called out "Hello!" to her siblings. The twins, who were crouched in front of the TV watching _Another Goofy Movie, chorused "Hi" without turning away from the screen. Mary, wearing a tight, bright pink miniskirt suit with a plunging neckline, waved at her while continuing to talk into her cell phone. From the couch in the center of the room, Simon said, "Hey Luce," and gave her a quick wink, which she returned with a smile. Sitting next to him was a very pretty blond young man, whom Lucy guessed must be his new roommate, Henry. Ruthie came down the stairs and nodded at her before dropping into a beanbag chair by the coffee table. In the corner by the kitchen doorway, Matt dozed in a recliner while his two-year-old daughter Kady sat on his lap and played hairdresser, arranging a number of small plastic barrettes in his hair.  _

"We were just talking about Simon's plans," Eric said, settling into an armchair. "Did you know that Simon wants to move to Vermont? I didn't even think that he liked maple syrup."

Fortunately, Lucy was saved from having to answer this by a loud outburst of gibberish from the twins.

"So, they still talk in their little baby language?" she asked, perching uncomfortably on one of the two dining-room chairs that had been brought in for her and Dan.

Annie laughed. "Yeah, isn't it cute? The doctor says it's something many twins do and that they'll outgrow it soon enough, we should enjoy it while they're young. So what's the news with you two? When can we expect to hear wedding bells, hmm?"

Feeling her face turning red, she stuttered, "Well, um, uh, we can't really afford it right now. We need to save up some money. You know, I'm not getting my degree until next spring, and then I've got to --"

"That's great, honey. Just make sure we're invited to the wedding!" Annie said, looking pointedly at Matt. It was a wasted effort, though, as Matt was now asleep and snoring.

"I guess he's worn out from so much work. You know how grueling a med student's schedule can be!" Sarah seemed to be talking too loudly for the room. "He only got out of his rotation this weekend by trading with somebody else, so now he has to cover on Hanukkah. Just like last year! Anyone would think that he didn't want to see my parents!" Sarah laughed heartily. The Camdens chuckled politely. 

"Mom!" Kody whined. "Can we eat now? I'm hungry!"

"Just a minute, let your Aunt Lucy and Uncle Dan put their suitcases away and get settled, why don't you! Lucy, the boys are all sharing the twins' room, but I traded with Ruthie so Matt and I could get the Hello Kitty room. He says it brings back memories. Anyway, you girls will all be up in the attic room. And don't worry, the kids get the nursery, so you won't have to put up with them!" She laughed too loudly again.

Annie sighed. "Weekends like this will be so much easier once I finish that garage apartment." 

"Boys' and girls' rooms?" Dan muttered under his breath.

Lucy kicked him on the ankle, just hard enough to shut him up. She grabbed their overnight bags and headed up the stairs. Mary hung up her phone and headed up with her. "I have to get my lipstick," she explained as she jogged up the stairs two at a time, Lucy and Dan trailing behind. Dropping off Dan and his bag at the door to Simon's old room, which was now the twins', and ignoring the you-can't-be-serious look that he gave her, Lucy followed Mary to their old bedroom.

"So how've you been?" Lucy asked as she tossed her bag onto the bed. "You're a hard person to get ahold of these days."

"Oh, I know." Mary checked the line of her lipstick in the mirror. "I've been going out on a lot of dates. I put my name in with every dating service in the city."

"Dating service? Aren't you worried about what kind of people you'll meet?"

"Oh, lighten up, Lucy." Her older sister laughed. "If you want to find a prince you've got to kiss a few frogs, right?"

"How's the job search going?"

"Great! I found something that I think is going to work out. It's not very regular, but I can make, like, five hundred dollars a day!"

"Really?" Lucy queried suspiciously. "What kind of job is that?"

Mary blotted her lipstick. "Don't worry, it's perfectly legal. Just using my natural assets, that's all. So, where's Robbie this year?"

"I don't know."

"Yeah, what do you care? You've got Dan! When are you two getting married?"

From downstairs, they heard Kody screech, "Dinner, everybody!" Saved by the bell, Lucy thought.

As they trooped down the stairs, Lucy wondered what sort of job Mary was working these days. She had no idea how her sister had managed to stay in New York for so long without ending up in a homeless shelter, considering that she seemed to change jobs every two weeks. Well, she was probably better off not knowing. Dan was waiting for her at the doorway of the boys' room, and as she went past she felt him grab her butt for a second. Then she forgot about everything except concentrating all her efforts on making sure that her face had returned to its normal color before she sat down at the table. 


	3. The Fate of Robbie

Part III

Dinner was delicious. The table was so crammed with people that they could hardly fit all the plates and silverware on it. They ended up serving themselves from dishes lined up on the kitchen counter, buffet-style.

Once everyone was seated again, the family held hands to say grace. Then they dug in. The next few minutes, there were no sounds but enthusiastic words of praise for Annie's cooking. Ducking her head from modesty, Annie smiled demurely. She'd worked for days to get the feast just right.

All was going well until Mary asked, "So where's Robbie this year?"

Eric dropped his fork with a clatter. All around the table, Camdens froze in mid-bite.

Annie smiled sadly. "I'm afraid Robbie won't be a part of this family anymore."

"Why?" Mary persisted. "What did he do?"

"I know what he did," Ruthie interrupted smugly. "He had one of those skanky magazines with half-naked girls in it."

"I found it in his room while he was out visiting Joy." Annie sniffed and her voice grew hard. "Some nasty thing called _Gear or something like that, filled with topless women. When I confronted him, he had the nerve to insist that he only read it for the articles. Then he started saying he was old enough to buy whatever reading material he wanted. Well, I told him otherwise. As if I would let someone who read that filth be around my children."_

All the Camdens had stopped eating now, except the twins, who obliviously shoveled food into their mouths as fast as they could. They wanted to get away from the table in time to watch Pokemon.

"He wouldn't accept that I was right and he was wrong. So, he had to go. I think he's back in Florida, but I don't really care." Annie smiled her tight-lipped smile at Mary from across the table. "You girls are so much better off without him. Mary, maybe you should look up that nice Wilson boy. He was such a responsible young man."

Mary sighed. "I should have known that Robbie was bad. I guess I was just too stupid to see it."

From the head of the table, Eric made a strange noise, as though he were suppressing a sob.

"I know. He fooled everyone except me," Annie said consolingly. "It broke your father's heart. He still cries at night sometimes."

Lucy stirred her mashed potatoes with her fork and moved her turkey around on her plate, hoping the food would look eaten. She knew she wasn't going to be able to swallow another bite.


	4. After Dinner

Part IV

It was getting late. Lucy looked around but couldn't find Dan and figured that he had gone outside somewhere to sneak a cigarette. The twins were still monopolizing the TV, forcing everyone else to sit through _The Pokemon Movie for the second time. Ruthie sat in an armchair by herself, her eyes gleaming as she looked around the room, taking note of who was present and who wasn't. Matt was slumped in a corner of the couch; Lucy could hear Sarah upstairs trying to bribe the kids to stay in bed. The low murmur of Mary on her cell phone carried in from the stairway. Simon and Henry were nowhere to be seen, and Lucy assumed that they must have gone outside with Dan._

"How about some ice cream?" her father asked.

Her mother looked puzzled. "Why would we need ice cream, dear? All the kids are here in the house."

"No, I mean I would like to eat some ice cream. I know there's a gallon of vanilla in the freezer. Is anyone with me?"

"Me!" the twins cried, in perfect synchronicity.

"Me too," Ruthie added.

Remembering that her mother had just sat down, Lucy said quickly, "Don't get up, Mom. I'll get it." She rose and headed toward the kitchen.

"Don't forget the chocolate sauce!"

"No problem, Dad," she called as she entered the kitchen. Flipping on the overhead light, she saw Simon and Henry kissing in front of the sink piled high with drying dishes. They sprang apart as she noticed them and stood looking at her with guilty expressions on their faces. 

"You two better watch it!" Lucy hissed as she grabbed the ice cream, sauce, bowls and spoons. "They were just about to walk in here until I volunteered!"

Simon and Henry nodded at her and she turned to leave. As she turned the corner, she could hear them snorting with suppressed laughter behind her back. She kept going, gritting her teeth with irritation. Idiots. Simon always had to live dangerously whenever he came home. Telling them he was moving to Vermont, for Pete's sake!

"Here's the ice cream!" she announced with false cheer. The twins grabbed theirs without even glancing away from the TV screen. Everyone silently began to eat, watching the action on the TV with glazed eyes.

Mary came into the room. "Sorry, gang, but I gotta go. They're calling me in."

"What?" Annie asked, lifting her head from her husband's shoulder. "I thought you said you got the day off."

"I asked for it off, but somebody's called in sick and they need me after all. I'll just catch a late flight and I can be there first thing tomorrow." She was trying to look as though she was sorry to be going, but not doing a very good job. 

Mary trotted up the stairs to get her suitcase. A few minutes later, Sarah's voice drifted down the stairs. "I said no jumping on Aunt Mary! You get into bed now, Kady, or no TV tomorrow! I mean it! I really do! Okay, I'm going to count to three! One! Two! Two and a half!"

Matt was apparently asleep again, because he snored loudly. He still had a large pink barrette stuck in the front of his hair.

Mary skipped back down the stairs. Yeah, she was doing a great job of looking sorry to go, Lucy thought wryly. Her sister made a big fuss of telling everyone not to get up, but they all did anyway, of course, to give her the goodbye hugs. "Where are the Simon and Henry and Dan?" Annie asked, looking around. 

"I think they went for a walk after dinner," Lucy said quickly.

"Well, tell them goodbye for me. See you next year, everybody!" Mary called out cheerfully and opened the door. Out on the doorstep was Dan.

"Hey, you're finally back from your walk!" Lucy cried out, hoping he'd take the hint. After a second of hesitation, Dan smiled and nodded. Mary went through the goodbye hug ritual with him, and Lucy noticed her wrinkling her nose curiously. Oh God, Lucy thought, I hope he doesn't reek of smoke.

"Gosh, it's getting so late!" she said loudly. "And Dan and I have such a long drive tomorrow! We'd better be getting to bed, don't you think, Mom?"

Annie smiled. "You're right, it is late. I've been trying to keep from yawning." 

Lucy steered her fiance inside and up the stairs, hoping to keep him away from her mother's sensitive nose. Dan caught her eyes and looked into them meaningfully. "In the boys' room," she whispered to him furiously, and he rolled his eyes, but kept walking down the hall.


	5. Good Night

Part V

She'd been lying awake for hours. She could tell that Ruthie was asleep, but she just couldn't make herself relax enough. Part of it was that it had been so long since she'd had to fall asleep without the feeling of Dan's big arms around her, without his warm body pressed up against her. She missed him terribly.

Giving up on sleep for the moment, she got out of bed and tiptoed downstairs to the kitchen. After getting herself a glass of water, she stood in front of the window, staring out into the backyard. She noticed what seemed to be a tiny glowing spark floating in the air over by the garbage cans. It was the tip of a cigarette, she realized.

Dan was standing by the garbage cans. He had just put out his cigarette and was tucking the butt into one of the cans when she rounded the corner, and he looked up and treated her to one of his beautiful smiles. Those smiles were guaranteed to calm her down when she was feeling upset, and tonight was no different.

"You couldn't sleep either?" she asked lightly.

"Sorry, hon. I was going through major nicotine withdrawal." 

She couldn't keep herself from running her eyes admiringly over his broad shoulders and chest. Clad only a wifebeater tank top and pajama bottoms, he looked so good that she found it hard to keep her hands off him.

"Honestly," he sighed, "I don't know if I'm gonna get any sleep. It's bad enough with those twin brothers of yours carrying on conversations where they can finish each other's sentences, for Christ's sake. But then, when they finally drop off, I've got Simon and Henry giggling and whispering like it's a goddamn slumber party."

"You homophobe," Lucy teased.

"Well, I don't want to be in the boys' room with them. Not when you're all the way upstairs in the friggin' attic. It's not fair."

He grabbed her and pulled her into a long kiss, and she relaxed into him gratefully. She parted her lips and he slid his tongue into her mouth, sending little shivers down her spine. She tasted his breath, smelled his familiar scents of tobacco and baby powder. He ran his hands over her shoulders and neck, then slid his fingers down to stroke her breasts. She gasped and he moaned. He was scrabbling at her pajama buttons when she heard the back door open.

"Someone's coming!" she hissed.

They sprang apart. A few seconds later, Ruthie appeared. "What are you guys doing?"

"We just wanted some fresh air before we went to bed," Lucy said lamely. "We're just going up now. Goodnight, honey." She leaned in and gave him a very chaste, close-lipped kiss. 

Smiling in the teasing, sexy way that he knew drove her crazy, he gave her a peck on the lips in return. "Sleep tight, baby," he drawled, and headed back into the house.

Lucy thought that she should probably stay outside a few extra minutes in order to make it look good for her sister. Ruthie was now watching her rather intently, so she pretended to be looking at the stars and taking deep breaths, like she supposed a fresh-air addict might.   

Then Ruthie said abruptly, "By the way, I know the truth about you and Dan."

"What?"

"You know. You and Dan. I know that he plays in a bar band called the Inflatable Dolls and that the two of you are living together."

"Come on, Ruthie. I don't know where you got that idea!" Lucy declared, her heart pounding.

Ruthie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms on her chest. "Oh, please. Don't bother to deny it; I know I'm right. I always am. And it was totally easy to find out, too. Pathetically easy. But then, none of you _siblings have been much of a challenge. All it takes is five seconds of detective work. It's just __sad that I'm wasting my talents on you guys." Ruthie leaned back against the back door and smirked. "I know everything about all of you. I know that Matt's flunked out of med school and is working night shifts as a rent-a-cop, and that Sarah had to drop out of school to take care of the kids. I know that Mary's last job was modeling for the Frederick's of Hollywood catalogue. I know that Simon and Henry are more than just friends, although I think Mom and Dad must be the last two people in America who haven't caught on to that one. And," she finished, her eyes gleaming in triumph, "I know all about you."_

Lucy was speechless.

"I can see that you're shocked," Ruthie gloated. "Don't be. I've always been the smartest one in the family. It just took me a while to figure out how to profit from my intellect."

"Profit?"

"Of course." Ruthie sighed exaggeratedly. "You really are slow, aren't you? Okay, I'll spell it out. I get two hundred a month from Matt, and another two hundred from Simon. Mary's making the least money, so she chips in a hundred. It really works out the best for everybody. Mom and Dad don't find out what I know, and I've got a lot of tuition money saved up for Stanford." 

The light dawned, but Lucy still couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. "You want me to _pay you?"_

"Well, you want me to keep quiet, don't you? It's a very reasonable arrangement." Taking out her notebook, Ruthie did a quick calculation on one of the pages. "I was hoping to get at least two hundred from you, but from the looks of that boyfriend of yours, I don't think you guys can afford it. After all, I don't want to be a burden or anything. So I'll settle for a hundred and fifty a month. That's a bargain rate, just because you're my sister."

"I'm not going to let you blackmail me!"

Ruthie shook her head sadly. "You know, I would really hate to have Mom and Dad find out what you've been doing. They've always thought that, of all of us, you turned out the best. I hear them talking about how much they admire you for sticking to your principles all these years, even though you don't live at home and you're not married yet. It's going to suck, having to ruin their high opinion of you. I really hate to do that to them. "

Against her will, Lucy found herself nodding, agreeing to Ruthie's demented plan.

"Oh good. I take personal checks. And I don't start charging interest until the twentieth of the month. You definitely can't get a deal like that from any bank."

Still feeling somewhat dazed, Lucy turned and started to walk back into the house.

"Lucy?"

She stopped but didn't turn around. "What, Ruthie?"

"I'm so glad that we get to be together in the attic room again tonight. Isn't it fun! Just like old times!"

"Why … uh …sure, Ruthie, it's great," Lucy said unconvincingly. She told herself, only eight more hours. Dan won't mind leaving right after breakfast.

Ruthie took her sister's hand. Lucy found that she was so nervous, she almost jumped. 

"I've really missed you since you left. I miss not having a sister around," Ruthie said sweetly. Lucy eyed her warily and wondered if leaving before breakfast might be a better idea.

Smiling beatifically, Ruthie led her back into the house, and the door swung shut behind them.  


End file.
